Continue doorstep survey in Belasar’s nearby villages to check dengue, chikungunya cases: Central team to district admin

Pune: The central team sent for Zika virus inspection in the district has appreciated the works done by the Pune Zilla Parishad and has advised them to continue with the ongoing door-to-door survey to check spread of chikungunya and dengue infections even as only a single case of Zika has been reported from Belasar village

Pune: The central team sent for Zika virus inspection in the district has appreciated the works done by the Pune Zilla Parishad and has advised them to continue with the ongoing door-to-door survey to check spread of chikungunya and dengue infections even as only a single case of Zika has been reported from Belasar village. Aedes species mosquito, which acts as a vector for dengue and chikungunya, also carries Zika virus. Hence, the central team has emphasised elimination of the vector.

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A senior government official requesting anonymity said, “The team appreciated our efforts and the fact that the health department swung into action immediately after the first Zika case was reported. We have been conducting door-to-door surveys every three days identifying those who are symptomatic and collecting blood samples of all pregnant women and their high-risk contacts, not just in Belasar, but in the nearby five villages as well.

“The team asked us to continue with the survey until there is zero dengue or chikungunya case in these villages. They have asked us to keep a watch on municipal councils of Jejuri and Saswad as well since people from the councils come to these villages often. In addition to the ongoing surveillance and sample collection, we have to also conduct information-education-communication campaigns to create public awareness regarding the infection which has a very low mortality rate.”

Ayush Prasad, chief executive officer, Zilla Parishad, said, “The central team has informed that one Zika/dengue/chikungunya-infected mosquito can infect about 17 people vis-a-vis one malaria-infected mosquito which infects just one person. The aedes mosquito can travel about 500 metres and so we need to use bigger sprayers to cover as much space as possible. The larvae breeding programme is important because an infected aedes mosquito passes the infection from one generation to another. Monitoring of pregnant women is utmost important as Zika infection can cause microcephaly.”

Prasad said there are two possible ways in which the woman might have got infected. He said, “The woman is a housewife, so it is less likely that she could have spread the infection to more people. However, all nine members in the house tested positive for chikungunya. Her daughter is a nurse and so she might have contracted the infection from the hospital colleague who might have travelled to the infected region in Kerala. Or the second theory is the pomegranate theory in which traders, especially from Kerala and Bengaluru, come in huge numbers to buy stock from the village who might have brought in the infection. It is also to be noted that the tracing of infection is much better in rural areas which is evident by the fact that we reported the first case of Zika due to our aggressive testing and same goes for Covid.”

Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance officer, said, “The rising number of chikungunya cases in villages and dengue cases in rural areas is of concern. Earlier, the spread of the infection was vice versa, as in cities reported more dengue cases and villages more chikungunya cases, but now these boundaries have blurred as the same vector carries viruses of all three infections, including Zika.”